Wedbush Decreases Earnings Estimates for Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) – Research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for Palo Alto Networks in a research note issued on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now anticipates that the network technology company will post earnings of $0.48 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.49. The consensus estimate for Palo Alto Networks’ current full-year earnings is $3.49 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Palo Alto Networks’ Q2 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.13 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $227.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $186.78 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $207.24. The stock has a market cap of $122.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $191.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.58.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palo Alto Networks

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 163,172 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,237,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 571,172 shares of company stock worth $107,074,352 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.